RIP Robert Stigwood: From the Bee Gees To “Grease”

The man behind pushing the disco movie into the mainstream, Robert Stigwood, has died at the age of 81. He produced the 1970’s mega-blockbusters of their time, “Grease” and “Saturday Night Fever” along with managing the Bee Gees.

Robert Stigwood, the impresario who managed the Bee Gees and produced 1970s blockbusters “Grease” and “Saturday Night Fever,” has died. He was 81.

Stigwood’s office said he died Monday. The cause of death was not announced.

Born in Adelaide, Australia, in 1934, Stigwood moved to Britain in the 1950s and soon became an astute player in Britain’s embryonic rock music industry.

In the 1960s, he managed rock supergroup Cream and its guitarist Eric Clapton before signing brothers Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb, collectively known as the Bee Gees, whose melodic folk-rock achieved late-’60s success before a career slump.

He also produced the 1977 dancefloor drama “Saturday Night Fever,” with a soundtrack that brought the Bee Gees mega-stardom that reached a pitch as high as Barry Gibb’s signature falsetto.

That film and the Stigwood-produced “Grease,” released in 1978, also made John Travolta into one of the decade’s biggest stars.

“Robert changed the world and only for the better, and he was certainly important to my career. His legacy lives on, and he will forever be remembered,” said Travolta, in a statement released by his publicist.